Mainland China
1. The gross domestic product of creative industry in Shanghai hit RMB114.8bn last year, accounting for 7.7% of the city's total GDP. (Shanghai Daily).
2. Dolhem Design – said it has opened a Shanghai office in an art zone on Huaihai Road, the 2nd office after its headquarters in Stockholm. (Shanghai Daily).
3. Suning Appliance Co – will open its 1st Elite store in Shanghai's Changning district which is set to achieve an estimated annual sales of RMB100m. The store covers 2,000 sq m and sells more than 15,000 kinds of products. An additional 20 to 25 Suning Elite stores will be launched in Shanghai in the next 2 years to tap growing wealthy consumers. (Shanghai Daily).
Hong Kong
1. The government on Friday announced it would levy an additional stamp duty on resale properties held for less than two years, with rates varying from 5 to 15 per cent of property values, depending on the holding period. The measures have had an immediate impact on demand, with transactions of secondary-market homes in 10 major housing estates falling nearly 80 per cent to just 14 completed deals at the weekend. In some popular estates, such as Taikoo Shing, Kornhill and South Horizons, there were no deals done at all. (South China Morning Post)
2. Confirmor sales of second-hand flats rose 11.9 per cent to 1,944 from the beginning of the year to November 19, compared with 1,737 for the whole of 2009. The value of confirmor sales - resales before transactions are completed - amounted to HK$6.08 billion in the secondary market, against HK$6.61 billion in 2009. The 1,944 deals, accounting for just two per cent of total second-hand home sales during the same period, comprised a small figure compared with the 9,275 confirmor sales for 1997, the housing market's peak. (South China Morning Post)
3. New projects slated for release at the end of the year have run into an obstacle - the latest government measures to curb speculation and price growth in the property market. Cheung Kong (Holdings)' 1,368-flat new project, Festival City II in Tai Wai, sold only nine units on Saturday and Sunday. This compares with more than 200 sales on the day of the project's launch on Friday. The sharp decline in demand has prompted Cheung Kong to lift its offer of a second mortgage to 20 per cent of the purchase price from its previous level of 10 per cent. (South China Morning Post)